Collapsible crate.



e Inv ntor;

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

l. Illlllllllllllll B. C. ROCKWELL.

COLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

APPLICATION man oc. 16. 1915.

Attorneys,

BYRD C. ROCKWELL, OF CAMDEN, ARKANSAS.

COLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov. 14, 1916.

Application led October 16, 1915. Serial No. 56,267.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, BYRD C. ROCKWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Camden, in the county of Ouachita and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and useful Collapsible Crate, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to collapsible crates of that type made up of slats pivotally connected at their ends.

Heretofore it has been the practice to form bores in the slats and it has been necessary to handle the slats separately whether the bores are produced by automatic machines or in any other manner. As the greater percentage of these slats are made of hard wood and the bore is very small, the operation of producing the bores is slow, diiiicult and expensive, it being impossible to hurry the operation because the small bits used will readily break.

One of the objects of the present invention is to construct a crate of slats having dovetailed transverse grooves or recesses for the reception of the pivot wires, these recesses being produced by saws and it being possible, as a result, to produce recesses in wide and random widths after which said widths can be ripped to produce slats of the desired proportions, the dovetail grooves or recesses being so shaped and proportioned as to properly retain a pivot wire inserted into them.

W'ith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in` the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of one corner portion of a crate constructed in accordance with the present invention. F-ig. 2 is an enlarged section on line A-B Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a plan view of said corner portion of the crate. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a width of stock having the dovetail transverse grooves cut thereinto prior to ripping the stock longitudinally and transversely to form the slats. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the structure shown in Fig. 4.-

Referring to the figures by characters of reference l designates a slat of any desired shape and proportions and extending transversely within the outer face of the slat near each end thereof is a dovetail groove or recess 2. The innermost or widest portion of the groove or recess is suiiiciently large to receive readily a pivot wire 3, but the outermost portion of each groove or recess is so restricted that the wire cannot be removed therethrough.

In assembling the slats forming the crate, they are crossed one upon the other, as shown in Fig. l with the innermost or widest portions of the recesses 2 in alinement. A pivot wire is then inserted downwardly through these alining portions of the recesses after which the ends of the wires are bent backwardly and inwardly to form retaining hooks 4 engaging the end slats so that longitudinal withdrawal of the wire from the registering recesses is prevented. As the outer side portions of the recesses are too narrow to permit the wires to be drawn therethrough, it will be apparent that after the slats have been assembled in the manner pointed out, it willA be impossible to separate them until after one of the hooked ends 4 has been straightened out, whereupon the wire can be withdrawn longitudinally. rIhe grooves 2 are arranged in the outer faces of the slats so that the walls of the grooves cooperate with the wires merely to hold the slats properly assembled. The greater portion of the thickness of each slat is located between the inner face of the slat and the wire so that the slat is not materially weakened, the contents of the crate exerting an outward pressure through the slat and against the pivot wire.

In forming theslats, they'can be made from stock of different widths. A strip of stock is lirst formed with transverse dovetail grooves as shown in Fig. 4, these grooves being properly spaced apart, after which the stock is ripped longitudinally and transversely to form slats of the desired prop0rtions. Obviously the grooves Q can be readily produced by feeding stock to two or more saws successively and which saws are disposed at the proper angles to form a groove of the desired shape and proportions. This method of forming the slats is of conthereinto from the outer'fa'ces siderable advantage over thatV in which the slats must be separately bored, the advantage being due primarily to the ease and speed with which the slats can be made and to the stock of different Widths and do not require the use of line drills or bits Which become Y easily broken.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for fact that the slats can be inade fromV slats having dovetail recesses extending Vtherein-to from the outer faces thereof, the

inner or broad portions of the recesses being in line, and a pivot element extending through said alined portions of the recesses,

Vthe narrow portions of the recesses being of less Width than the pivot element, the end portions of the pivot element being hooked to engage the adjacent slats, thereby to hold said element against longitudinal removal from the recesses.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of tivo Witnesses.

BYRD C. ROCKVELL. llVitnesses L. H. BATES, J. W. WARREN.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. C. 

